It was an exceptional ride. I hope others will go next year.

My trip odometer said the miles I rode were 45, not 40.

The weather forecast said "hit or miss rain showers." Well, the rain showers all hit me. I was dressed appropriately, but most of the cylists on the longer route were not wearing warm clothing or rain gear. I just don't get it. The temp was in the mid-40s for most of my ride, with the rain pelting down, and I really don't understand how other cyclists can pedal while wet and cold.

The route was gorgeous, and went along tulip fields, along an ocean bay, over some hills, through some tiny farm towns, and through some more farmland.

I've been biking out in the winter weather so the rain and cold didn't bother me at all. I was biking alongside two younger men for part of the route, who were not dressed appropriately. They got real cold, and would stop when they saw a barn alongside the road, get off their bikes, shelter from the wind, and stomp on their feet. Later they would pass me a few times, when I was stopped at a busy intersection waiting to cross. I caught up to them a final time around mile 38, and we rode together for a mile, and then I dropped them on a long incline and never saw them again. I think the cold got to them and they couldn't bike the last few elevation changes.

One funny part of the ride was when my route joined with the 20-milers during the last 8 miles or so. I was doing a lot of hollering out "Bike left" as I passed around the family groups. There was a young man riding solo ahead of me, wearing street clothes on a 10-speed. He was passing the family groups too. He heard me hollering out behind him, and he started looking back at me. I wasn't going very fast because of the congestion of quite a few bikes in that area, maybe 12 mph. Well this guy kept looking back at me and he started pedaling faster and faster, and it looked to me like he didn't want the female on the pink bike to catch up with him. Well ok, since I wasn't even doing much of any speed, I thought what the heck, and I twitched my gear up a notch, flexed my thigh muscles a little bit, and in a few pedal strokes I was even with him. I felt like I was hardly moving, but this guy was pedaling furiously. I turned my face to him, said a cheery "Hi!", and then I flexed my thigh muscles a bit more and off I zoomed. That was a lot of fun.

I had one older lady in her 70s or 80s pass me towards the end of the ride. I was stopped at a busy road again, patiently waiting for a break in the traffic, and this lean fit older woman zips up, flicks a quick look to the left and right, and dashes across the busy road. I want to be just like her when I am that age, out riding my bike, zipping by the younger riders, and not moldering in a nursing home waiting for death.

Darcy